A Year with the Saints: 28 MayIn helping our neighbor we should be like the angels, who neglect no kind of toil in their care for men's salvation, yet lose none of their blessed and everlasting peace, whatever their success. - Saint Ignatius of Loyola

Blessed Maria Bagnesi

Also known as

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A happy, beautiful, under-sized, frequently neglected child, her mother often left her to the care of others, including a sister who was a Dominican nun. Marietta grew up and had her best times in her sister's convent, and four of her sisters eventually entered religious life.

When her father arranged a marriage for Maria, she actually fainted in horror. The thought of marriage made her so sick that she eventually became unable to walk, and was bed-ridden. Her father, a man easily swayed by quacks, crack-pots and con men, put her through 34 years of flummery and what passed for medical treatment in the 16th century.

Being bed-ridden, Maria was not able to follow her sisters into the convent, but she did become a Dominican tertiary in 1544. She made her formal profession in 1545, and was soon able to get out of bed for brief periods. However, a combination of pleurisy, asthma, kidney disease, and the non-stop "treatments" she received from assorted quacks and cranks immobilized her again. She began to have visions, and to converse with angels, devils and saints. Her neighbors thought she was possessed, but a local priest became her spiritual advisor, and reassured the locals that Marietta was not in league with the devil or being attacked by him.

With the priest's assurances, Marietta's room became a place for area pilgrims who came to her for wisdom and peace, and for area animals, especially cats. Cats had a special affection for her, many stayed in her room, slept on her bed, guarded her pet songbirds, and at least once fetched her some cheese when she became hungry.

Maria developed a deep devotion to Saint Bartholomew the Apostle, and added his name to hers. As her visions and ecstacies continued and became more constant, she became more mystical in her conversation, became focused on the glorious and sorrowful mysteries, and was seen to levitate. She came to know Saint Mary Magdalen of Pazzi, and shared her visions with her.

Born

15 August 1514 at Florence, Italy

Died

28 May 1577 at Florence, Italy of natural causes

Beatified

11 July 1804 by Pope Pius VII (cultus confirmed)

Patronage

Blessed Luigi Biraghi

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The fifth of eight children. Entered the Minor Seminary of Castello sopra Lecco, Italy at age 12; studied in the Major Seminaries of Monza and Milan in Italy. Ordained in the archdiocese of Milan, Italy on 28 May 1825. Taught in the seminaries of Castello sopra Lecco, Seveso and Monza. A highly educated and cultured man with deep knowledge of the early Church fathers and archeology. Spiritual director of the Major Seminary of Milan in 1833.

With the help of Mother Mariana Videmari, in 1836 Father Biraghi founded the Institute of the Sisters of Saint Marcellina (Marcellina Sisters) at Cernusco sul Naviglio; the Institute requires fidelity to the faith in daily life by its members, and established schools for girls, both the nobility who could pay for it, and the poor who were not required. Named a doctor of the prestigious Biblioteca Ambrosiana in 1855. Honorary canon of the Basilica of Saint Ambrose. In 1862, by the Pope's request, he acted as mediator among the clergy of Milan who were split between those who supported a united Italy, and those who sought the return of the Papal States. Vice-Prefect of the Ambrosiana in 1864. Appointed Domestic Prelate to Blessed Pope Pius IX in 1873. Today the Marcellina Sisters continue their good work in Italy, France, Brazil, Switzerland, England, Albania, Canada, and Mexico.

Born

2 November 1801 in Vignate, Milan, Italy

Died

• 11 August 1879 in Milan, Italy of natural causes
• buried in the family grave in Cernusco sul Naviglio, Italy
• relics translated to the chapel of the mother-house of the Marcellina Sisters in Cernusco in 1951

Beatified

Blessed Margaret Pole

Also known as

Margaret Plantaganet

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Daughter of the Duke of Clarence. Niece of King Edward IV and King Richard III of England. Married Sir Richard Pole in 1491. Mother of five, one of whom became a cardinal. Widow. Unofficial ward of King Henry VIII, who made her Countess of Salisbury and governess to Princess Mary, daughter of Henry VIII.

When she opposed Henry's plan to marry Ann Boleyn, she was driven from court and received the king's disfavor. When her son, Cardinal Reginald Pole, wrote against Henry's presumptions to spiritual supremacy, the king decided to crush the family. Two of Margaret's sons were executed in 1538 for the crime of being the brothers of Reginald. The elderly Margaret was arrested soon after, falsley charged with plotting revolution; in 1539 she was sent to the Tower of London where she spent her remaining two years. In 1541, at the outbreak of an actual uprising, Margaret was summarily executed with trial as a precaution. Martyr.

Beatified

Blessed Lanfranc of Canterbury

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After a liberal education in England, he went to Normandy and entered the monastery at Bec, where he opened a famous school. An opponent of the doctrines of Berengarius, he succeeded in having the Catholic doctrine defined at the Lateran Council of 1059. He obtained the papal dispensation for the marriage of William, Duke of Normandy, to Matilda of Flanders, and after William’s invasion of England in 1066, Lanfranc was made Archbishop of Canterbury. He secured the primacy of the See of Canterbury over that of York, helped reform the Church in Scotland, and prevented many ruptures between the king and pope over the question of tithes. In the struggle over investitures, he consistently upheld the rights of the Church. Lanfranc probably advised the king to name William Rufus his successor, and he subsequently made constant efforts to check the evil deeds of the latter.

Born

c.1005 in Pavia, Italy

Died

• 24 May 1089 in Canterbury, England of natural causes
• interred under the Saint Martin altar at the Canterbury cathedral

Saint Phaolô Hanh

Also known as

Paul Hanh

Additional Memorial

24 November as one of the Martyrs of Vietnam

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Born to a Christian family in the apostolic vicariate of West Cochinchina (in modern Vietnam), Paul and two of his brothers joined a band of highwaymen and burglars, with Paul as their leader. When Paul insisted that the thieves return some of their loot to the poor, they betrayed him to the authorities, accusing him of treason by collaborating with the French. Arrested, Paul denied the treason but proclaimed himself a sinful Christian and refused to renounce his faith. Tortured and martyred in the persecutions of emperor Tu-Duc.

Beatified

Canonized

Saint William of Gellone

Also known as

• William of Aquitaine
• William of Orange
• William of Toulouse
• Willliam Fierabrace
• William in the Desert
• Guillaume...
• Marquis au court nez

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Born to the nobility, the son of Aldana and Count Thierry of Toulouse. Career soldier. Member of the court of Blessed Charlemagne. Duke of Aquitaine. Led forces against the Saracens in southern France. In retirement he built a monastery at Gellone, France, and became a Benedictine monk there; the house was later named Saint-Guilhem-du-Desert in his honour. His reputation for chivalry, bravery and piety led to medieval romances being written about him including the Chançun de Guillaume (Song of William).

Born

755 in France

Died

812 of natural causes in the monastery that was later re-named Saint William in the Desert in his honour

Canonized

Saint Germanus of Paris

Also known as

• Father of the Poor
• Germain

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Priest, ordained by Saint Agrippinus of Autun. Abbot. Bishop of Paris, France in 555. Taught and ordained Saint Bertrand of Le Mans. Spiritual teacher of Saint Droctoveus. Cured King Childebert I from an unnamed illness, and converted him from a misspent life. The king then built him the abbey of Saint Vincent, now known as Saint-Germain-des-Pres.

Born

496 at Autun, France

Died

• 28 May 576 in Paris, France of natural causes
• interred in a decorated tomb in the chapel of Saint Symphorien next to the abbey church c.635
• relics re-shrined to the church in 754 by order of King Pepin the Short

Canonized

Patronage

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Blessed Antoni Julian Nowowiejski

Also known as

Antonio Giuliano Nowowiejski

Additional Memorial

12 June as one of the 108 Polish Martyrs of World War II

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Studied at the seminary of Plock, Poland. Ordained on 10 July 1881 in Plock. Rector of the Plock seminary. Vicar General of Plock in 1902. Bishop of Plock on 12 June 1908. Titular Archbishop of Silyum on 25 November 1930. Known for his deep spiritual and prayer life. Imprisoned with a a group of his priests during the Nazi occupation, he was taken from prison to prison, tortured repeatedly, and eventually allowed to die of abuse. Martyr.

Born

11 February 1858 in Lubien, Poland

Died

• died of starvation on 28 May 1941 at Dzialdowo death camp, occupied Poland
• buried in an unmarked grave somewhere near the camp

Beatified

Blessed Herculaneum of Piegaro

Also known as

Ercolano

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Franciscan friar minor. Priest in the early 15th century. Noted and distiguished travelling preacher known to his his austerity, his long fasts, and as a miracle worker. While he was preaching in the cathedral of Lucca, Italy during Lent of 1430, the city came under seige by the army of Florence, Italy; Herculaneum rallied the people of Lucca, found ways to smuggle food into the city, and helped them keep their faith until the seige ended; the people of Lucca gave him the Pozzuolo convent in thanks and to insure he returned. Sent by the papal legate to preach missions in the east from 1435 to 1437.

Born

late 14th-century at Piegaro, Italy

Died

• summer of 1451 in the convent of Castelnuovo, Garfagnana, Tuscany, Italy of natural causes
• exhumed in 1456 and found incorrupt
• relics enshrined in the church of the convent of Castelnuovo

Beatified

Saint Caraunus of Chartres

Also known as

Carauno, Ceraunus, Cheron

Additional Memorial

18 October (translation of relics)

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When his parents died, Caraunus sold all his goods and estate, distributed the money to the poor, and retired from the world to live as a prayerful hermit. His reputation for holiness spread, his local bishop ordained Caraunus as a deacon, and the new deacon gave up the life of a hermit to serve as a missionary to areas of Gaul where the faith had all but disappeared.

Born

Gaul

Died

• killed by robbers near Chartres, France in the 5th century
• a church and monastery were later built over his tomb
• his relics were hidden to prevent their destruction during the anti–Christian persecutions of the French Revolution
• relics enshrined in the church of Saint Caraunus in Chartres

Blessed John Shert

Additional Memorials

• 29 October as one of the Martyrs of Douai
• 1 December as one of the Martyrs of Oxford University

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Educated at Brasenose College, Oxford, England graduating in 1566. Schoolmaster in London, England. Convert to Catholicism. Servant to Dr Thomas Stapleton at Douai, France. Studied at Douai, and at Rome, Italy. Ordained in 1576 at the English College at Rome. Returned to England on 27 August 1579 to minster to covert Catholics. Arrested for the crime of being a priest, and sent to the Tower of London on 14 July 1581. Martyr.

Born

at Shert Hall, near Macclesfield, Cheshire, England

Died

hanged, drawn, and quartered on 28 May 1582 at Tyburn, London, England

Beatified

Blessed Thomas Ford

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Received a Master of Arts at Trinity College, Oxford, England on 14 July 1567. Fellow of Trinity College. Left to study at the English College, Douai, France in 1570. Ordained in March 1573 at Brussels, Belgium. Returned to the apostolic vicariate of England on 2 May 1576. Chaplain to Edward Yates and the Bridgettins at Lyford, Berkshire. Arrested on 17 July 1581, he was imprisoned and tortured in the Tower of London, accused and tried for treason as part of a non-existent conspiracy of Catholics against the crown, and executed in the persecutions of Queen Elizabeth I. Martyr.

Born

Devon, Devonshire, England

Died

hanged on 28 May 1582 in Tyburn, London, England

Beatified

Saint Ubaldesca Taccini

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An only child born to a poor but pious family, she was early drawn to religious life and the care of people even poorer than herself. Joining the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem at age 15, she lived a nun‘s life for 55 years. Had the gift of miraculously healing.

Born

1136 in Calcinaia, Pisa, Italy

Died

• feast of the Holy Trinity, 28 May 1206 in Pisa, Italy of natural causes
• miraculous healings reported at her tomb
• some relics translated to Malta on 30 June 1587

Beatified

Pope Sixtus V granted a plenary indulgence to those who visit her relics in Malta on 28 May

Blessed Robert Johnson

Additional Memorial

29 October as one of the Martyrs of Douai

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Studied at Rheims, France, and Rome, Italy. Ordained at Douai, France in 1576. He then returned to England to minister to covert Catholics in the London area. Arrested in 1580 in connection with the non-existent Rheims and Rome Plot. Imprisoned in the Tower of London. Tried and convicted with Saint Edmund Campion and others. Martyr.

Beatified

Blessed Mary of the Nativity

Also known as

Anna de Corro

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In her youth, Anna made a private vow, consecrating herself to God. She joined the Mercedarians at the monastery of the Assumption in Seville, Spain, taking the name Sister Mary of the Nativity. Known for her deep contemplative prayer life, she received visions of heaven, and spent her time in praise of God. People throughout the region flocked to the convent to have her pray for them.

Martyrs of Palestine

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Martyrs of Sardinia

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A group of early Christians for whom a church on Sardinia is dedicated; they were probably martyrs, but no information about them has survived except the names Aemilian, Aemilius, Emilius, Felix, Lucian and Priamus.